


know when your number is up

by freckledshoulderblades



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Body Horror, F/F, M/M, as well as rarepairs that don't exist without my intervention, coming into your sexuality, cyborgs falling in love lmao, i have a love unholy for reeve tuesti, i'll never not be a fan of putting characters through terrible things, in a few parts, oh right, rating may change eventually if i get the motivation to complete this fully, this is the result of cleaning out my wip folder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 04:04:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13651056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freckledshoulderblades/pseuds/freckledshoulderblades
Summary: Reeve travels with the group, develops a crush, and gets a hand.one sided reeve/barret, recognized aerith/tifa, ust cid/vincent





	know when your number is up

**Author's Note:**

> side note: vincent is reeve's best friend through all of this, except for maybe barret  
> barret and vincent understand what he's going through so personally that they can't help but be there for him  
> reeve is basically the adopted son of the Sephiroth Slayers (yuffie's never gonna get that to stick)  
> aerith is 100% Done With This Shit  
> Tifa is so in love with her it's fucking crazy  
> red is the grampa no one asked for but here he is anyways, listen to his war stories and then remember he's only like 20  
> cloud is just trying to learn who he is again and i want him safe and happy  
> barret is consistently worried about marlene and at the same time hella guilty because he's off gallivanting  
> vincent isn't sure what to do with the information that he thinks cid is kinda cute and a massive dork  
> cid is unapologetically in love with vincent and would shout it from the rooftops if barret hadn't convinced him that it would only end in pain

Nobody dies.

Nobody dies and when everything is all said and done, the only one stuck in the hospital for two weeks is Cloud, pissed because on the way home from their massive showdown he got poisoned.

Aerith thinks it's the funniest thing she's ever seen and Tifa wholeheartedly agrees.

Nobody dies and it's mostly because Cait Sith keeps throwing themselves in the way of literally every single danger posed to their group. Reeve says it's because he needs to make up for acting as a double agent for a good portion of their journey.

Aerith secretly agrees, but she's not the type to show it.

It's funny for a while, becomes a running joke with them. As often as one of them gets injured, they have a new Cait Sith model.

"This one has improved rocket arms!" Reeve jokes. His jokes sounds a bit more empty every time though.

They start calling him by numbers - true ones at first, outlandish ones as time passes. It's dark humor but it's necessary in their condition.

He joins them physically after the thirty-seventh incarnation of Cait Sith, a willowy stranger in a deep navy suit, beard scraggly and unkempt.

"They uh," he starts, and he sounds like he's barely holding back tears. "They tried to kill me, back at headquarters."

Before the group can huddle in on him and console Reeve, he pulls out ten, twenty, forty capsules from his pockets. They spill out from his hands onto the sandy ground. When he looks up again he's grinning wickedly, eyes wet.

"I took them before I left. Should last a while, I hope."

Barret shoulders his way past Cloud and Red, kneeling down to check out the capsules. He snorts.

"A week at most, the way you've been running through them. Isn't that right, forty-two?"

The group laughs and helps Reeve gather the capsules, a few distributed among spare packs. Cid claps Reeve on the back, says, "Looks like we're whippin' that skinny ass in shape," and lights his cigarette before anyone can complain.

Yuffie walks next to him for a time. He's old enough to be her father, he thinks, and fails to use that information to start a conversation.  
Just as well, seeing as she talks enough for four people.

 

/*********************************************************************************************************************************************/

 

They keep a militant pace on their way to Nibelheim to restock their supplies, and Reeve can feel it draining on him quickly. He has an office physique - the most strenuous work he can recall performing at ShinRa might have been reloading the copier.

He feels the pockets containing the capsules get lighter and lighter as days go by. When they pass through North Corel, he uses two of the capsules to perform a sort of puppet show for the children there. Reeve feels less weighted after that, mentally and physically.

Vincent sidles up next to him with all the warning of an assassin.

"You're using them foolishly." is all he says, and Reeve's heart sinks.

"I - I wanted to make them happy," he stutters out. Vincent appraises Reeve, blood red eyes boring into him.

He's quiet for some time, long enough that Reeve can feel his muscles protesting from being stationary for so long. Eventually Vincent lets out a small chuckle, dipping his head in what could be considered a nod.

"It's good. But be careful. It does not do to dwell on past transgressions."

He leaves without another word, cape fluttering softly behind him. Reeve sighs and feels his pockets.

Thirty two left.

 

/*********************************************************************************************************************************************/

 

It's in the heat of a battle with a particularly vengeful sand worm when Reeve reaches into his pocket and finds nothing there. His shock is overriden by complete, abject fear as Barret steps in front of him and unloads his clip into the worm.

"What are you waiting for?!" Barret roars, shielding the slight man.

Reeve is searching his pockets frantically, about ready to throw off his suit jacket in haste, when he hears Cloud call from off to his left.

"Hurry up, eighty seven! We don't have all day!"

His tone is joyful, teasing, even as he dodges the massive beast when it dives into the ground next to him. The air is silent for all that the ground is shaking, and Cloud is whooping with laughter when he peers over the edge of the perfectly cylindrical hole carved by the subterranean worm.

Reeve's mind races, eyes darting over their impromptu battlefield. They're the only ones here - the rest of their group went off to source supplies from Cosmo Canyon. He feels the rumbling shift towards him and Barret only seconds before he's manhandled out of the way and Barret goes flying.

"FUCK!" he hears from the man a good thirty feet above him, "REEVE, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Reeve's paralyzed and the worm shifts its attention towards him. He hears the dull thud of Barret slamming to the ground.

God, why hadn't he take Cid up on those spear lessons? Why hadn't he ever bothered to learn any self defense?

The worm rears back, roars, and dives towards him.

Cloud's at his side before he can think to move, pulling his body to his left.

He feels a white hot searing pain encompass his body, then nothing.

 

/*********************************************************************************************************************************************/

  
Reeve wakes up in the Cosmo Canyon medical building a week later with Cloud and Vincent muttering lowly in the background.

He tries to swallow but his throat feels like sandpaper. He takes in a ragged breath and whispers, "Water?" just loud enough for the two of them to stop talking and rush to his side. He feels a metal gaunlet work to prop him up so he can take sips of the water Cloud holds to his lips.

Reeve downs a few gulps before he's wracked with a coughing fit, Cloud thumping his back painfully. Opening his eyes is another ordeal altogether, but a welcome one as he sees that his room is packed full with his friends.

Tifa and Aerith are sleeping soundly in some chairs, the fighter's arm wrapped around the healer. Yuffie's playing a game with Cid, something involving hand slapping, and Red watches bemusedly from the next bed over. Barret stands guard at the door, a complicated emotion running across his face when he notices Reeve's state.

"What...?" he croaks out, and Cloud shakes his head.

"Don't talk, thirty-" he catches himself, a look of pain flashing over his eyes. "Reeve. Don't talk."

Vincent steps back and crouches, head just a hair lower than Reeve's. "We need to talk to you." he says.

Reeve winces, tries to move his arm to sweep his hair back, and nearly passes out from the pain.

"Fuck," he pants. Looks down. Pales.

His right arm is completely gone.

He can feel bile rising in his throat, eyes widening as panicked breaths come in shorter and quicker. Barret leaves his post at the door and shoves Cloud unceremoniously out of the way. He takes Reeve by the chin and forces him in his direction.

"You breathe. You breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth, and you do it slow."

Reeve's nodding his head and gulping for air, left hand caught in the bed sheets with an iron grip. Barret doesn't release his head, mimics the breathing motions he's trying to convey to Reeve, and the rest of the party watches on in stunned silence.

Ten minutes pass before Reeve doesn't feel panic clawing at his throat. He releases the bed sheets and nods at the gunner. Vincent hands him another sip of water.

"I'm fine," he says bravely, and he's proud that his voice doesn't break.

Barret snorts. "No you ain't." He holds out his flesh arm awkwardly, like he's not entirely sure he's actually doing it. Reeve hesitates, then gingerly places his hand on the bulk of muscle.

Something in his heart flutters, despite the horrific scene.

He breathes deep once more and turns to Vincent. "What happened?"

"It would seem," Vincent begins, "that you've run out of capsules." 

Reeve swallows. He'd known that much. He turns to Cloud.

"You saved me." he states. Cloud doesn't meet his gaze.

He almost looks angry when he says, "I couldn't save all of you."

Vincent cuts in. "He's here. You did well."

Cloud stands abruptly and walks out of the room. Red gracefully jumps from the adjacent bed, nods at Reeve, and follows.

Reeve watches Vincent sigh, gauntleted hand at his temples. He glances at Cid who walks over, placing a hand on his shoulder.

There's an odd moment of silence where Cid opens and closes his mouth a few times, humming contemplatively. He seems to settle on something to say, because he claps Vincent on his shoulder and beams, "Kid's a fuckin' idiot. I'll go kick his ass into shape." and walks out of the room as well.

Vincent sighs again, head in his hands. He eventually turns back to Reeve and stands, placing the flask of water in his hand.

"I'm sorry, but I should make sure they don't kill each other."

Reeve looks at Barret and the girls, smiling weakly at Yuffie when she bounds over.

"Heya Uncle Reeve." she winces. "You look better than when we found you, I guess."

He looks to Barret for clarification. The older man grunts.

"Aerith and Tifa used up their energy healing you. Turns out the medic here just went on a week long sojourn to Gongaga." he pauses. "You almost didn't make it."

Barret looks away. "We shouldn't have fought that worm. Not when we didn't have our supplies."

Reeve looks down at his newly amputated arm, then over at the sleeping women. He nods slowly. "I'm, uh." his voice breaks and tears well up in his eyes. "I'm not going with you anymore."

Yuffie's reaction is instantaneous. "Fuck THAT." she seethes, and Reeve swears he can hear Vincent out in the hallway shout, "Language, Yuffie!".

She waltzes up to the right side of his bed and pokes him hard in the chest. "You're coming with us, dickhead."

For the third time in five minutes, Reeve hears another of Vincent's long suffering sighs accompanied by Cid's stifled laughter.

Barret stands up, letting Reeve's hand fall from his flesh arm. "She's right." he grins. "Ain't no changin' her mind now."

Aerith wakes with a snort, wiping drool off her chin with her wristband. She surveys the scene and gives Reeve a hazy once over, before mumbling, "Oh good, you're awake. Sucks about the arm." and curling further into Tifa's chest, asleep in seconds.

 

/*********************************************************************************************************************************************/

 

It takes Barret longer than he'd like to realize what's bugging Reeve.

Yuffie's the first to slip up - calls him "twenty-four" instead of the more familiar "Uncle Reeve". Cloud whips around to stare her down and his look is nothing short of murderous. Barret doesn't miss the way Reeve's shoulders slump before he forces out a pitiful laugh at his own expense.

They're camping in a dense forest one night, Barret standing guard for the first shift, when he hears Reeve try to sneak his way out of camp.

As big as he is, Barret's stealthier than one might think. That being said, it only takes him less than a minute to slyly work his way up to where Reeve is taking painfully slow steps.

"Nice night for a walk?"

He's quiet and the way Reeve jumps and slowly turns to look at him, face pale, almost makes the excursion worth it. He always forgets how much taller he is compared to the slight puppet master until they're feet away from each other, caught in their own orbit.

"Uh." Reeve says dumbly.

Barret grins wolfishly. "Yeah, 'Uh'."

It's almost impressive that he can pick Reeve up like a sack of potatoes. It'd be more impressive if the fuck actually ate more often, he thinks. He makes a note to talk to Vincent about that later.   
Reeve, for all that he's getting better in battle, slumps over Barret's shoulder with a sigh.

"I was doing it for your own good," Barret hears from behind him. His hand clenches around Reeve's leg with the sudden surge of rage and he breathes deep for a moment.

"Shut the fuck up." he says eventually. Reeve acquises.

He takes them back to the outskirts of camp, off where the others can't hear a soft conversation. Barret sets Reeve down gently, gesturing towards the tree stump seats they'd made earlier. Reeve takes his seat slowly and looks at the ground.

Barret grunts softly when he sits, bones creaking and cracking.

"Vincent meant to tell you," he begins, pulling out a flask from his vest. "When we were in Cosmo."

He takes a long swig of something sweet and hearty, handing it over. Reeve looks up and takes it with his hand, eyeing it.

"It's not bad." Barret mutters as an aside.

"Anyways," he continues, "He meant to tell you before that business with Cloud being a moody brat, meant to say that you aren't replaceable."

Reeve doesn't look up, just takes a long drink and huffs out a laugh.

"We mean it." Barret counters. "I know you don't believe shit, but we fuckin' mean it. You're with us."

There's a long stretch of silence that's broken by Reeve's sniffling and wiping at his eyes. Barret's mind blanks momentarily and he blurts out, "How the fuck have you never changed your goddamn

suit in a fuckin' year."

Reeve bursts out laughing, a wet choked noise, and Barret's entirely too flustered to deal with this.

Fuck it, he thinks, and reaches out towards the ex-ShinRa employee. He envelops him in a hug, patting his back awkwardly before settling with rubbing it slowly. Reeve reaches up with his arm and tries to hug back, sobs wracking his body.

They stay like that for a while.

 

/*********************************************************************************************************************************************/

 

Three months later they're in Rocket Town and Cid's busy regaling Shera with everything that's happened on their journey, Vincent a calming presence behind him. Reeve's watching the debacle with a cup of tea in his hand, smiling at every exaggeration.

"- no, Shera, you don't understand, this fuckin' bird was THIS-" he pauses, stretching out his arms as far as they can go. Not satisfied, he grabs Vincent's hand and urges him to take up a T pose.

The ebony gunner chuckles lowly and complies. Reeve snorts into his tea.

"-it was THIS FUCKIN' BIG, Shera, do you understand how much fuckin' chicken we ate?"

His assistant smiles behind her hand. "Yes, Cid. I understand."

He scowls. "No you fuckin' don't, let me get some paper." He heads off in search of a sketch pad, Shera following dutifully, and Vincent takes the opportunity to sit next to Reeve.

"Cid says he can make you an arm," he says.

Reeve sputters. "Fuck, you don't mince words."

Vincent smiles wickedly. "You've been hanging out with Barret."

"Yes, I have. Anyways, an arm?" he gestures impatiently.

The gunner hums. "Yes. It's going to take him a very long time though. He will need to remain here." His eyes pass over Reeve towards the window, where Barret and Yuffie are shooting targets.   
"You will also need to remain here."

Reeve's heart sinks. "Oh. I see."

Vincent taps his side lightly. "You misunderstand me." He smiles again, this time warmer, more genuine. "This is not permanent. We would like you to come with us, but there are pressing matters to take care of in Wutai."

He frowns. "Her father has requested her presence."

Reeve nods. "I can't come with you now?" he says, and he hates how it sounds like he's whining.

"There will always be another crisis. Better now to solve your predicament than postponing it." Vincent looks at Reeve again. "Barret and I know too well the cost of waiting."

"Doesn't mean I like it," Reeve says absently. He sets his tea down and stands. "When do you leave?"

Cid reenters the room and looks over them both. His jaw is set in a hard line. "Thought you were stayin' here, Vince."

Vincent stands and strides over to Cid, placing a hand at his waist. Reeve's eyes go wide.

"I am. The rest of the group leaves tomorrow morning." he adds as an aside to Reeve, who nods again. They step closer and for a second, Reeve thinks he can see Cid smiling softly at Vincent.

"I should, uh," he points his thumb outside and they both laugh.

Stepping outside into the crisp fall of Rocket Town, Reeve immediately sees Barret and Yuffie. They've abandoned their target practice in favor of pick pocketing the locals. He sighs.

"Even if you are leaving tomorrow, that doesn't excuse this." he murmurs as he walks closer to the two of them. He smiles in satisfaction as Barret jumps, but Yuffie only turns around and holds out her hands.

"Look at all this shit I got!" she crows. Her hands are full of jewelry and a few wallets, a piece of materia glowing bright green.

Barret looks at her and scowls. "I didn't get shit."

Reeve laughs. "Might be due to the fact that you're the size of a small car."

Yuffie snickers at the gunner, stashing her trinkets into her bag. They hear a door slam and see Tifa stepping out of the local item shop, grinning widely.

"You'll never guess who got the best deal of the goddamn month." she says, beaming. Barret holds out a hand and she high fives it with enough force to knock him back a step. "There's enough potions to go around, thank god. Should be set until Wutai!"

"Oh, you got more potions!" Reeve hears from behind him. He turns to see Aerith bounding over to Tifa's side, leaning down to peck her on the cheek. "When were we leaving?" she asks, eyes turning towards Barret.

"Thinkin' tomorrow mornin'." he says, and Reeve feels the familiar tug in his chest.

Tifa stretches, back popping and muscles shifting. Reeve watches Aerith, her eyes fixated on her girlfriend, and chuckles lightly. As she comes down, Tifa shouts, "ALRIGHT! Let's get this show on the road!" and tugs Aerith towards the Inn.

Barret laughs uproariously and Reeve goes bright red. Yuffie shakes her head and follows them, waving goodbye to the two men.

The gunner claps Reeve on the back, smiling wide. "We'll be back before you know it. And you're gettin' a shiny new arm too!" he sighs, looking upwards. "It'll be fine."

**Author's Note:**

> i do my best  
> i really do  
> but i have so much shit in my wip folder that it actively gives me anxiety attacks  
> so this is part of my goal to reduce them  
> r&r, comments encouraged and instrumental in my finishing a work <3


End file.
